The Foreign Office has recently just made a passport rule change for travellers flying to EU countries. This has most likely been in response to some being turned away from flights due to passport validity issues.

Changes after Brexit have caused a lot of confusion amongst travellers deciding whether or not to apply for a passport renewal. It was reported that some travellers had been refused travel even with six months left on their passport.

The Foreign Office has recently clarified the rules:

“If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must follow the Schengen area passport requirements. Your passport must be:

issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’)

valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

You must check your passport meets these requirements before you travel. If your passport was issued before 1 October 2018, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. Contact the embassy of the country you are visiting if you think that your passport does not meet both these requirements. Renew your passport if you need to."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “FCDO travel advice is kept under constant review to ensure British travellers are aware of the risks and have accurate information to help plan their trip. We welcome that the European Commission is now updating its guidance in regards to their rules affecting some UK passports"

Anybody wanting advice on their passport situation can give us a call on 01473 892660 or drop us an email at hello@vivalavisa.co.uk

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